Broccoli, Ham, and Cheesy-Creamy Cauliflower Baked Shells

This looked like a perfect recipe.  A whole head of cauliflower hidden in the sauce?  Genius.  
We have a very picky two-year-old... he’ll never know what hit him.

Here’s the link: http://www.wholeliving.com/155093/baked-shells-and-broccoli-ham-and-cheesy-creamy-cauliflower-sauce

There was one problem with this recipe and that was the estimated prep time.  15 minutes? Really? 45 minutes later, mine was in the oven and contrary to what you may believe, I actually do know my way around my kitchen.  Maybe Martha didn’t account for the time it took her little elves to pre-cut the cauliflower, garlic, shallots, and broccoli and pre-measure everything else.  Where were my elves?  Oh yeah, there’s only one and that’s me.  Also, math was never one of my strong subjects, but lets just check her instructions:

1. Cook the cauliflower, garlic, shallots, and 1/2 teaspoon salt: 10 minutes.
2. Add milk and simmer: 15 minutes.
3. Let cool: 5 minutes.
4. Blend mixture: 2 minutes.
5. Cook the pasta: 5 minutes

OK, by my calculations that adds up to 37 minutes... and now that we’ve established that math isn’t Martha’s strong suit either, just kidding Martha, I’ll move on.

The actual prep was quite easy.  Instead of using pecorino cheese I used a mixture of Parmesan and Manchego - they’re just what happened to be in my fridge.  I also tried to use a hand-held blender and maybe if it was charged it would have been more effective, so I ended up having to use a regular blender anyway.  If it had been charged, it would have worked fine and there would have been a lot less clean-up. 

It looks a bit anemic, doesn't it?

Martha suggests rather than baking the shells with the crumbs on top which can make them soggy, that they should be toasted separately, and tossed over each serving.  I didn’t do this.   It’s totally unnecessary, unless you like creating additional steps for yourself.  I sprinkled the panko right on before it went in the oven.  

And it wasn't a bit soggy.

An hour and 15 minutes later dinner was ready.  It was mild tasting, I might say bland, but that would make it seem more offensive that it was. 

Side note: I actually divided the mixture into two baking dishes and gave half to a friend for her family.  They have two girls, 5 and 2 and she said the girls loved it.  My friend and her husband added some additional spices to spruce it up.   Hmmm.. that was a good idea, why didn’t I think of that?

Regardless, we didn't have a hard time finishing it..

This recipe ended up feeding four adults and three children.  Ok - four adults and two children, my son didn’t touch it - clearly deep down he knew there might be a vegetable in there somewhere..

For all you veggies out there - this very mild recipe would have been tasteless without the ham - I’d recommend giving this one a pass.

Ali